Racism in Sudan
by Salah Shuaib
It is a very sensitive topic. But, we should try to constructively address it. Since the priority of our oppositional grounds is to topple the regime, those who engage in discussing racism must present a creative alternative – not just blame – regarding the lack of peaceful coexistence. Otherwise, we cannot overcome our historic crises for the sake of maintaining a national unity.
As most of us know that the issue of racism is deeply rooted in our entire social components, one cannot imagine that it can be thus eliminated overnight. Rather, Racism needs extraordinary, intellectual contributions from those whose objective perspective is highly needed.
Also, there should be a healthy societal environment in which a comprehensive debate about racism can be held. Unless there are free media institutions to generate ideas about such a problematic subject, without any fear of treason, the outcome will not sustain the treatment of this social disease.
It appears to some folk that racism is not the only crisis that has helped undermine the country’s chances of progress. But, there are rather a lot of crises causing us to lose the country’s southern part- its population, then, complained about how they were affected by an offending second-class position.
Depending on one method to resolve Sudan’s crises is a state of cognitive failure. Those who try to analyze our historical problems according to Center/Margin Theory are having some valid points. But, there are also those who make a great insight that the exploitation of religious factor is playing a major role in our crises.
So, too, some knowing schools depend on analyzing Sudan’s problems based on the Marxist method, where the superstructure is a phenomenon that has connections with economic, historical, social and religious backgrounds. In fact, the progressive world centrifuges the dependence on a sole method to solve problems.
Interdisciplinary methods are now demonstrating their richness in analyzing human practices. Moreover, with these combined academic disciplines, we can produce a variety of sustainable knowledge, which gives us a wide scope of understanding complex phenomena.
Racism is a product of historically settled procedures that have been accumulated for a long time, and that it could be difficult to put an end to it by producing solely political complaints. There should be a mutual cooperation between those eager to make a tolerant change in the centre of power. It is against consistency that you, as an intelligent person, engage against racism in Sudan while working to devastates the unity of all opposition groups, which John Garang knew their roles in helping his movement to struggle for the new Sudan.
Controlling power for nearly three decades, the regime was continually able to target such Sudanese national parties, so it can partially deal with their resistance in an easy manner. Sudan’s opposition parties, despite their historically painful mistakes, have contributed to the necessary transformation from the tribal past to the national future.
Therefore, the regime, aggressively initiated through a military coup to be in power for ever, knew that such parties must be crushed to the maximum. If not, the only option the Sudanese Islamists consider to maintain power was to absorb their leaders through governmental jobs. By doing so, the regime ensures that Sudanese will resort to their tribal alliances, and thus our national resistance be weakened.
Through nearly three decades, the Al-Bashir regime was able to eliminate the impact of any regional opposition that tries to fight in the name of undeveloped boundaries. Looking back to the peace accords signed by the regime and the armed movements, one will find that the governing Islamists systematically constitutes the partial, regional solutions that lead to absorbing these war leaders in power, no more.
Such a Machiavellian politics have helped raise sporadic, ethnic resistances to change the regime or to pursue power, wealth and leverage. In result, tribalism in Sudan became an active political trend as our political national parties are now extremely weak, yet it became so difficult that they could lead change movements.
Nothing can much hurt Sudan’s present and future other than this reactivated tribalism damaging national thoughts, senses and concerns. With the existence of this demonic regime in power, racism will escalate its narrowly thinking ways that endanger any potentiality of achieving a country of peace, tolerance and progress.
The writer is a Sudanese journalist, he can be reached at [email protected].